Losing Weight as an Endurance Athlete

Losing weight while training for endurance events is tricky. For the beginner athlete it might be as simple as training more and the weight will simply come off over time. But once an athlete has become relatively lean (around 12-17% body fat for men and 18-23% for women) weight loss will eventually plateau, which is when we ask, "what does it take to be among the leanest?" Elite men will be under 10% body fat and women between 10-14%, so what are they doing differently from the rest of us to achieve these numbers?

First off I should debunk a couple myths.

1) You don't have to cut carbs. But eating carbs wisely (as I mentioned in my previous blog post) is a tool that can be used.

2) You don't have to train at a super high volume. No matter how hard you train weight loss is achieved in the kitchen. I lived this first hand when I bike toured across the country averaging 7-8 hours a day of riding and I gained weight. Because I ate whole boxes of pop-tarts at once.

3) You don't have to cut food groups entirely.

4) You don't have to starve.

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Carb Cycling and Calorie Deficits

What makes losing weight tricky as an athlete is that there is the issue of performance. Average people can cut carbs (which has been shown to decrease body fat levels) or be a little more aggressive with calorie deficits, but if you are training at a high level this isn't sustainable. When it comes to calorie deficits the golden rule is to keep this under 500 kcal/day which comes out to roughly 1 pound of fat loss per week. I'm not a huge fan of this method because a lot more goes into losing weight than simple calorie reductions, and also nobody wants to count calories. Honestly, don't even think about calories.

Now onto what everyone is talking about these days. Carbs. DON'T cut carbs. Well... unless you really know what you are doing. As I mentioned in my previous post there are ways to strategically cut carbs but I would read up more on that subject if you are looking to implement any such method. In general I believe you should err on the side of too many high quality carbs to make sure you are fueled properly. If you're looking to cut carbs make sure it is while your workout intensity is low or non existent. But definitely not before, during, or after quality training.

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Additional Rules for Weight Management

After reading countless hours of nutrition articles/studies, by far the best resource I have come across is a book called "The Endurance Diet." In this book the author lays out some rules he sees across successful elite athletes from all over the world. I've seen these among athletes I work and train with as well and believe in them wholeheartedly.

1) Don't exclude food groups. Each food group has different vitamins/minerals/macronutrients that your body needs. If you exclude an entire food group you run the risk of nutrient deficiencies. Now I'm not saying this cannot be done successfully. But when I look in the media and see "healthy" vegans in one corner and carnivores in another I honestly don't know what to believe. Maybe they're both healthy maybe neither of them are, but the fact that two completely opposite approaches have scientific support is tricky. The field of nutrition is super misleading and you can find a study that supports any diet you want it to. I've read into all these diet fats and came to my conclusion to eat all food groups in moderation. What a surprise.

2) Eat quality. If you are eating quality foods from every food group you will meet your body's nutrient needs without additional calories that will be stored as fat. This means excluding low quality foods MOST of the time. This includes limiting fried foods, refined grains, alcohol, low quality oils, processed foods, and sugar. Now I know it's shocking, but these foods will not help you reach your body fat goals. They can be eaten periodically but not every day. :'(

3) Eat until you are full. Be mindful of what you are eating and stop when you are full. Avoid binging as this is what leads to weight gain. I know it's fun but try to avoid it. If you are eating quality foods you will be full when your body has enough nutrients and the calorie number will be lower than if you ate poorly.

4) Eat individually. This is the part where I address all the intricacies of a personalized diet. Do you want to eat vegan? Great. Do you want to avoid gluten? Perfect. Do you want to only eat Thanksgiving dinner every day? Even better. You can do all these things, just make sure you are doing so intelligently. And again, don't tell everyone about it unless prompted. There is room for individualization in everyone's diet as long as they follow the rules previously addressed.

Hopefully this helps. And if anyone tries eating Thanksgiving dinner every night let me know how it goes. I think you can do so healthfully. And tell everyone you're a Thanksgivingarian.